WO2025050390A1

WO2025050390A1 - Systems and methods for ue requested forwarding for network node

Info

Publication number: WO2025050390A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/117787
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ziyang Li; Nan Zhang; Wei Cao; Hanqing Xu; Shuang ZHENG
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2023-09-08
Filing date: 2023-09-08
Publication date: 2025-03-13
Anticipated expiration: 2026-03-08

Abstract

Presented are systems and methods for user equipment (UE) requested forwarding for net-work node. A network node that supports controllable forwarding of wireless signals may receive first information from a wireless communication device. The network node may determine a forwarding behavior of the network node according to the first information.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UE REQUESTED FORWARDING FOR NETWORK NODE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, including but not limited to systems and methods for user equipment (UE) requested forwarding for network node.

BACKGROUND

The standardization organization Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is cur-rently in the process of specifying a new Radio Interface called 5G New Radio (5G NR) as well as a Next Generation Packet Core Network (NG-CN or NGC) . The 5G NR will have three main components: a 5G Access Network (5G-AN) , a 5G Core Network (5GC) , and a User Equipment (UE) . In order to facilitate the enablement of different data services and requirements, the elements of the 5GC, also called Network Functions, have been simplified with some of them being software based, and some being hardware based, so that they could be adapted according to need.

SUMMARY

The example embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving the issues relating to one or more of the problems presented in the prior art, as well as providing additional features that will become readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings. In accordance with various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices and computer program products are disclosed herein. It is understood, however, that these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not limiting, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art who read the present disclosure that various modi-fications to the disclosed embodiments can be made while remaining within the scope of this dis-closure.

At least one aspect is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or a computer-readable medium of the following. A network node (e.g., a smart node (SN) ) that supports controllable forwarding of wireless signals may receive first information from a wireless communication de-vice (e.g., a user equipment (UE) ) . The network node may determine a forwarding behavior of the network node according to the first information. The first information may comprise at least one of: forwarding request information; assistant information; priority information; or forwarding complete information. The forwarding request information may comprise at least one of: a for-warding request to request the network node to perform forwarding until the at least one wireless communication device sends forwarding complete information; a forwarding request to request the network node to provide available forwarding resource; a forwarding request to request the network node to perform forwarding within a dedicated forwarding resource; or a forwarding re-quest to request the network node to perform forwarding in connection with an event. The for-warding request information may comprise an indication of at least one of: a 1-bit indication; a payload size; a preamble; a sounding reference signal (SRS) ; a Zadoff Chu (ZC) sequence; a Pseudo-Noise (PN) sequence; a user equipment (UE) identity (ID) ; a requested time domain re-source; or a requested frequency domain resource. The assistant information may comprise an indication of at least one of: one or more of time domain resources; one or more of time domain resource indexes; one or more of frequency domain resources; one or more of frequency domain resource indexes; one or more of forwarding resources; or one or more of forwarding resource indexes.

In some embodiments, the network node may receive second information from a wire-less communication node (e.g., a base station (BS) ) (e.g., via L5) . The second information may comprise at least one of: control information; priority information; or first authorization infor-mation. The first authorization information may comprise at least one of: a user equipment (UE) identity (ID) , a list of at least one UE ID; or at least one parameter corresponding to at least one dedicated sequence or at least one reference signal.

In some embodiments, the network node may transmit third information to the wireless communication device (e.g., via L7) . The third information may comprise at least one of: a refer-ence signal; capability information of the network node; forwarding resource information; or for-warding feedback information. The forwarding feedback information may indicate to the wireless communication device whether or when to perform a forwarding action. The wireless communi-cation device may maintain synchronization with the network node after detecting the reference signal. The forwarding resource information can be indicative that the network node authorizes the wireless communication device to send the forwarding request to the network node. In some embodiments, the forwarding resource information can be communicated in at least one of: a com-mon signal or a user equipment (UE) specific signal.

In some embodiments, the forwarding resource information may comprise an indica-tion of at least one of: a forwarding resource list, a plurality of forwarding resources, a forwarding resource pattern, or a forwarding resource. The forwarding resource may comprise at least one of: a time domain resource, a frequency domain resource, beam information, power control infor-mation, time division duplex (TDD) uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) information, or link infor-mation.

In some embodiments, the third information can be communicated via at least one of: sidelink control information (SCI) transmitted via a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) ; sidelink data transmitted via a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) ; a broadcast signal trans-mitted via a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) ; a feedback signal transmitted via a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) ; system information (e.g., system information block (SIB) ) ; a radio resource control (RRC) signaling in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ; a medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling in the PDSCH; or a downlink con-trol information (DCI) signaling in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) .

In some embodiments, the forwarding request information can be carried in a medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling with an activation or a deactivation field set-ting as activation, forwarding complete information is carried in the MAC CE signaling with an activation or a deactivation field setting as deactivation. The MAC CE may also include at least one of: a user equipment (UE) identity (ID) ; a time domain resource; a frequency domain resource; or a forwarding resource index.

In some embodiments, the first information may comprise at least one of: sidelink con-trol information (SCI) transmitted via a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) ; sidelink data or a medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling transmitted via a physical side-link shared channel (PSSCH) ; uplink control information (UCI) in a physical uplink control chan-nel (PUCCH) ; a medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) ; a radio resource control (RRC) signaling in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) ; an indication of a preamble; or an indication of a sounding reference signal (SRS) .

In some embodiments, a wireless communication node may transmit fourth infor-mation to the wireless communication device (e.g., via L9) . The fourth information may comprise at least one of: second authorization information; frequency configuration information; or priority information. The second authorization information may comprise an indication of at least one of: at least one network node identity (ID) , a list of at least one network node ID; or at least one parameter corresponding to at least one dedicated sequence or at least one reference signal.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may transmit fifth infor-mation to a wireless communication node (e.g., via L10) . The fifth information may comprise an indication of at least one of: an authorization request; or feedback information. The authorization request may comprise an indication of at least one of: request information; at least one network node identity (ID) ; or a list of at least one network node ID.

In some embodiments, an application time of forwarding resource can be a reference slot. The reference slot may comprise at least one of: the reference slot is a reception slot; the reference slot is the first slot that is after a reception slot; or the reference slot is a slot that is offset by a number of slots provided by a slot offset from a reception slot. The reception slot can be defined as at least one of: a slot when the network node receives forwarding request information; a slot when the network node receives assistant information; a slot when the wireless communica-tion device receives forwarding resource information; or a slot when the wireless communication device receives forwarding feedback information. The slot offset can be determined by at least one of: a capability of the wireless communication device; a capability of the network node; an indication from the wireless communication node; an indication from the network node; an indi-cation from the wireless communication device; or a predefined value.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various example embodiments of the present solution are described in detail below with reference to the following figures or drawings. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict example embodiments of the present solution to facilitate the reader's understanding of the present solution. Therefore, the drawings should not be considered limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the present solution. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example cellular communication network in which techniques dis-closed herein may be implemented, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example base station and a user equipment device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example representation or model of a network-controlled repeater, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example UE controlled smart node (SN) model (model A and model B) , in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding model A, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding procedure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding timeline, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding procedure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding procedure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding procedure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding procedure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding procedure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding procedure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding timeline, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding procedure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding timeline, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding procedure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 illustrates an example UE requested forwarding procedure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19 illustrates an example forwarding resource, in accordance with some embodi-ments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 20 illustrates an example forwarding resource, in accordance with some embodi-ments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 21 illustrates an example forwarding resource, in accordance with some embodi-ments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 22 illustrates an example forwarding resource, in accordance with some embodi-ments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 23 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for user equipment (UE) re-quested forwarding for network node, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

1. Mobile Communication Technology and Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network, and/or system, 100 in which techniques disclosed herein may be implemented, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the following discussion, the wireless communication network 100 may be any wireless network, such as a cellular network or a narrowband Internet of things (NB-IoT) network, and is herein referred to as “network 100. ” Such an example network 100 includes a base station 102 (hereinafter “BS 102” ; also referred to as wireless communication node) and a user equipment device 104 (hereinafter “UE 104” ; also referred to as wireless communication device) that can communicate with each other via a communication link 110 (e.g., a wireless com-munication channel) , and a cluster of cells 126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138 and 140 overlaying a geographical area 101. In FIG. 1, the BS 102 and UE 104 are contained within a respective geo-graphic boundary of cell 126. Each of the other cells 130, 132, 134, 136, 138 and 140 may include at least one base station operating at its allocated bandwidth to provide adequate radio coverage to its intended users.

For example, the BS 102 may operate at an allocated channel transmission bandwidth to provide adequate coverage to the UE 104. The BS 102 and the UE 104 may communicate via a downlink radio frame 118, and an uplink radio frame 124 respectively. Each radio frame 118/124 may be further divided into sub-frames 120/127 which may include data symbols 122/128. In the present disclosure, the BS 102 and UE 104 are described herein as non-limiting examples of “com-munication nodes, ” generally, which can practice the methods disclosed herein. Such communi-cation nodes may be capable of wireless and/or wired communications, in accordance with various embodiments of the present solution.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless communication system 200 for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., OFDM/OFDMA signals) in accordance with some embodiments of the present solution. The system 200 may include compo-nents and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that need not be described in detail herein. In one illustrative embodiment, system 200 can be used to communi-cate (e.g., transmit and receive) data symbols in a wireless communication environment such as the wireless communication environment 100 of FIG. 1, as described above.

System 200 generally includes a base station 202 (hereinafter “BS 202” ) and a user equipment device 204 (hereinafter “UE 204” ) . The BS 202 includes a BS (base station) transceiver module 210, a BS antenna 212, a BS processor module 214, a BS memory module 216, and a network communication module 218, each module being coupled and interconnected with one another as necessary via a data communication bus 220. The UE 204 includes a UE (user equip-ment) transceiver module 230, a UE antenna 232, a UE memory module 234, and a UE processor module 236, each module being coupled and interconnected with one another as necessary via a data communication bus 240. The BS 202 communicates with the UE 204 via a communication channel 250, which can be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for transmission of data as described herein.

As would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, system 200 may further include any number of modules other than the modules shown in FIG. 2. Those skilled in the art will understand that the various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic de-scribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any practical combination thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described generally in terms of their func-tionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software can de-pend upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those familiar with the concepts described herein may implement such functionality in a suitable manner for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

In accordance with some embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 may be referred to herein as an "uplink" transceiver 230 that includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and a RF receiver each comprising circuitry that is coupled to the antenna 232. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternatively couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in time duplex fashion. Similarly, in accordance with some embodiments, the BS transceiver 210 may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver 210 that includes a RF transmitter and a RF receiver each comprising circuitry that is coupled to the antenna 212. A downlink duplex switch may alterna-tively couple the downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 212 in time duplex fashion. The operations of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the uplink receiver circuitry is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 for reception of trans-missions over the wireless transmission link 250 at the same time that the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 212. Conversely, the operations of the two transceivers 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the downlink receiver is coupled to the downlink antenna 212 for reception of transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 at the same time that the uplink transmitter is coupled to the uplink antenna 232. In some embodiments, there is close time synchronization with a minimal guard time between changes in duplex direction.

The UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to com-municate via the wireless data communication link 250, and cooperate with a suitably configured RF antenna arrangement 212/232 that can support a particular wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some illustrative embodiments, the UE transceiver 210 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to support industry standards such as the Long Term Evo-lution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards, and the like. It is understood, however, that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited in application to a particular standard and associated protocols. Rather, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 may be configured to support alternate, or additional, wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or var-iations thereof.

In accordance with various embodiments, the BS 202 may be an evolved node B (eNB) , a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femto station, or a pico station, for example. In some embodiments, the UE 204 may be embodied in various types of user devices such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , tablet, laptop computer, wearable computing device, etc. The processor modules 214 and 236 may be implemented, or realized, with a general purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific inte-grated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, a processor may be realized as a micro-processor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, or the like. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a digital signal pro-cessor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in con-junction with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

Furthermore, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the em-bodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in firmware, in a software module executed by processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. The memory modules 216 and 234 may be realized as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, memory modules 216 and 234 may be coupled to the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively, such that the processors modules 210 and 230 can read information from, and write information to, memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. The memory modules 216 and 234 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 210 and 230. In some embodiments, the memory modules 216 and 234 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other interme-diate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively.

The network communication module 218 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and/or other components of the base station 202 that enable bi-direc-tional communication between base station transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communication with the base station 202. For example, net-work communication module 218 may be configured to support internet or WiMAX traffic. In a typical deployment, without limitation, network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface such that base station transceiver 210 can communicate with a conventional Ethernet based computer network. In this manner, the network communication module 218 may include a physical interface for connection to the computer network (e.g., Mobile Switching Center (MSC) ) . The terms “configured for, ” “configured to” and conjugations thereof, as used herein with respect to a specified operation or function, refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc., that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and/or arranged to perform the specified operation or function.

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model (referred to herein as, “open system interconnection model” ) is a conceptual and logical layout that defines network communication used by systems (e.g., wireless communication device, wireless communication node) open to in-terconnection and communication with other systems. The model is broken into seven subcom-ponents, or layers, each of which represents a conceptual collection of services provided to the layers above and below it. The OSI Model also defines a logical network and effectively describes computer packet transfer by using different layer protocols. The OSI Model may also be referred to as the seven-layer OSI Model or the seven-layer model. In some embodiments, a first layer may be a physical layer. In some embodiments, a second layer may be a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. In some embodiments, a third layer may be a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer. In some embodiments, a fourth layer may be a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. In some embodiments, a fifth layer may be a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer. In some embod-iments, a sixth layer may be a Non Access Stratum (NAS) layer or an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and the seventh layer being the other layer.

Various example embodiments of the present solution are described below with refer-ence to the accompanying figures to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present solution. As would be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, after reading the present disclosure, various changes or modifications to the examples described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the present solution. Thus, the present solution is not limited to the example embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. Additionally, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely example approaches. Based upon design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes can be re-arranged while remaining within the scope of the present solution. Thus, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or acts in a sample order, and the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless expressly stated otherwise.

2. Systems and Methods for UE Requested Forwarding For Network Node

A type of network node (e.g., a network-controlled repeater) can be introduced/imple mented as an enhancement over conventional radio frequency (RF) repeaters with the capability t o receive and process side control information from the network. Such a kind of network node c an be denoted as SN (smart node) for simplicity, including and not limited to a network-controlle d repeater, a smart repeater, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) , or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) . The network node may also be deployed/activated/configured/controlled by a u ser equipment (UE) for quick and flexible deployment. In such case, the SN may not be always a ctivated, instead, the forwarding behavior of the SN can be adjusted by the UE’s request accordin g to the UE’s on-demand traffic. In this disclosure, a method of UE requested forwarding for SN is introduced.

Coverage can be a fundamental aspect of cellular network deployments. Mobile oper-ators may rely on different types of network nodes to offer blanket coverage in their deployments. As a result, new types of network nodes can be considered to increase mobile operators’ flexibility for their network deployments (e.g., integrated access and backhaul (IAB) or a type of network node not requiring a wired backhaul) . Another type of network node can be a RF repeater which simply amplify-and-forward any signal that the RF repeater receives. The RF repeater may sup-plement the coverage provided by regular full-stack cells.

Side control information may allow a network-controlled repeater to perform its am-plify-and-forward operation in a more efficient manner. Potential benefits may include mitigation of unnecessary noise amplification, transmissions and receptions with better spatial directivity, and simplified network integration.

A network-controlled repeater can be regarded as a stepping stone of a re-configurable intelligent surface (RIS) . A RIS node can adjust the phase and amplitude of received signal to improve the coverage.

A network-controlled repeater (NCR) node, referred to as NCR-node, can be an RF repeater that enables wireless amplifying-and-forwarding functionality in NG-RAN. The NCR-node may be capable of receiving and applying side control information from a gNB with addi-tional functionality to support NCR.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example NCR (e.g., or other network nodes) , in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The NCR (or NCR node) can be modeled as or described in conjunction with but not limited to FIG. 3. For example, the NCR node can be an RF repeater capable of enabling or allowing wireless amplifying-and-forwarding functionality in the wireless communication network or system. The NCR node can be capable of receiving and applying side control information from the BS 102 (e.g., gNB, TRP, or wireless communication node) with additional features or functionalities to support the NCR. The NCR node can include, correspond to, or be a part of the network node (e.g., SN) .

The NCR-node can include an NCR-MT and NCR-Fwd. The NCR-MT can be an entity supporting a subset of the functionality of the UE 104 that communicates with the BS 102 to receive side control information, such as via a control link based on the NR Uu interface. The NCR-Fwd can include or correspond to the function performing amplifying-and-forwarding of signals between the BS 102 and the UE 104 via the NCR-Fwd backhaul link and NCR-Fwd access link, respectively. The NCR-Fwd can support multiple beams toward the UE 104. The function-ality or behavior of the NCR-Fwd can be controlled according to the side control information received/obtained from the BS 102.

In various implementations, the systems and methods of the technical solution dis-cussed herein can introduce power control indications for the network node (e.g., SN or NCR) . The SN 306 can be controlled by the UE 104 and/or the BS 102. For example, the power indication may be provided from the UE 104. In such cases, the SN to BS link can be used to exchange SN’s information instead of the receive or transmit control information. A UE controlled smart node may be a possible enhancement to allow quick and flexible deployment to improve coverage. The present disclosure introduces a method of UE requested forwarding for a network node (e.g., SN, NCR) .

FIG. 4 illustrates an example UE controlled smart node (SN) model (model A (left) and model B (right) ) , in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 4, depicted is a schematic diagram of transmission links between BS and SN and between SN and UE. The SN can refer to a network node configured to support the controllable amplify-and-forward or forward operation of the wireless signal. The SN can include or correspond to a repeater, NCR, relay, part of the BS 102, TRP, RIS, and/or part of the UE 104, etc.

The SN can include or consist of at least two units or functional parts/components (e.g., sometimes referred to as function entities) , such as the communication unit (CU) (e.g., SN CU) and the forwarding unit (FU) (e.g., SN FU) . The units of the SN can support different functions for communication with at least one of the BS 102 and/or the UE 104. A first unit (or function entity) of the SN may refer to the SN CU and a second unit (or function entity) of the SN may refer to the SN FU or vice versa, in some cases. For example, the SN CU (e.g., first unit) can be a network-controlled repeater (NCR) MT. In another example, the SN FU (e.g., second unit) can be an NCR forwarder/forwarding (Fwd) .

The SN (e.g., SN CU or SN FU) can act/behave, include, or support various features or functionalities. For example, the SN (e.g., SN CU) can receive and/or decode side control information from a controller. The controller may be at least one of the BS 102 (e.g., gNB) , the UE 104, or other entities. The SN CU may be a control unit, controller, mobile terminal (MT) , part of a UE 104 or a BS 102, a third-party IoT device, and so on. In another example, the SN (e.g., SN FU) can carry out the intelligent amplify-and-forward operation using the side control information received by the SN CU. The SN FU may be a radio unit (RU) , a RIS, and so on. In some cases, the unit to achieve each functionality (or each functional unit) may refer to or corre-spond to separate or dedicated components of the SN. In some cases, the unit for each functionality may refer to or correspond to different logic parts of the same component of the SN. In certain aspects, the interface to enable the information exchange or transition between the two units of the SN can be supported.

An example model or depiction of the SN can be shown in at least FIG. 4. For instance, the forwarding functionality can be carried out via at least one of L1-L4, which can be referred to as forwarding links. For control links or communication links, at least one of L5-L8 can be used for the SN to receive control information and/or exchange or forward SN’s information with the BS 102 and/or the UE 104.

The transmission links between the BS 102 and SN and/or between the SN and the UE 104 as shown in FIG. 4 can be defined/described/provided as follows:

L1: link (e.g., backhaul link or F-link) from the BS 102 to the SN FU;

L2: link (e.g., backhaul link or F-link) from SN FU to BS 102;

L3: link (e.g., access link or F-link) from SN FU to UE 104;

L4: link (e.g., access link or F-link) from UE 104 to SN FU;

L5: link (e.g., control link or C-link) from BS 102 to SN CU;

L6: link (e.g., control link or C-link) from SN CU to BS 102;

L7: link (e.g., control link or C-link) from SN CU to UE 104;

L8: link (e.g., control link or C-link) from UE 104 to SN CU;

L9: link from BS 102 to UE 104;

L10: link from UE 104 to BS 102.

The L1-L10 can be at least one of various types of links, such as at least one of a control link, communication link, or forwarding link. For example, for the control link, the SN can receive and/or process the control information from the UE 104 and/or the BS 102, such that the infor-mation transmitted in the control link can be utilized to control the forwarding links or forwarding functionalities. In some cases, the data/signal/information of the SN can be transmitted from the SN to the UE 104 and/or the BS 102. The SN can receive cell-specific and/or UE-specific signals from the UE 104 and/or the BS 102, the information or signals transmitted/sent/provided/commu-nicated on control link may or may not be used to control the forwarding links or forwarding functionalities.

In another example, for the communication link, SN’s data/signal/information can be transmitted from the SN to the UE 104 and/or the BS 102. The SN can receive cell-specific and/or UE-specific signals from the UE 104 and/or the BS 102. The information or signals transmitted on the communication link may not be used to control the forwarding links or forwarding func-tionalities. In some cases, the communication link can correspond to or be a part of the control link. In some cases, compared to the control link, the communication link may not carry or have control information via the communication link to control the forwarding links or forwarding func- tionalities of the SN. In some cases, the links between BS and UE can be also called communica-tion links to exchange information between BS 102 and UE 104, but if these links does not contain SN related information, then L9/L10 may not be shown.

In further examples, for forwarding link (e.g., backhaul links and/or access links, F-link) , the signal from the BS 102 and/or the UE 104 can be unknown by the SN FU. For instance, the SN FU can forward signals (e.g., with or without amplification) without decoding the signals. L2 and L4 can correspond to or be associated with a complete uplink (UL) forwarding link from the UE 104 to the BS 102. L1 and L3 can correspond to or be associated with a complete downlink (DL) forwarding link from the BS 102 to the UE 104. Unless indicated otherwise, L1-L4 can be forwarding links. L9 and L10 can be communication links between BS 102 and UE 104. Since Model A and B are similar on the definition and content of links, so in the following Model A is taken as example to discuss solution on possible cases, and the solution can be applied for Model B as well. Depending on the existence of links L5, L6, L9, L10, examples of models can be provided or described in conjunction with at least one of but not limited to FIGS. 4 and 5.

Implementation Example: SN (e.g., SN CU) may receive forwarding request information from UE, and SN (e.g., SN CU) may determine the forwarding behavior of SN (e.g., SN FU)

Step A: A SN CU may determine configuration information of a SN FU. In some implementations, configuration information of the SN FU can be based on control information received from the BS via L5. For example, the SN may receive a periodic or semi-persistent beam indication from the BS. A plurality of beams can be associated with a plurality of forwarding resources (e.g., time and/or frequency domain resources) , but the SN FU may not need to always transmit or receive over these forwarding resources. The SN can activate the forwarding according to the UE’s request over some of these forwarding resources. In such case, it may be BS controlled and UE requested SN. In some embodiments, configuration information of a SN FU can be pre-configured, e.g., via an operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) , pre-stored in the SN. In such case, the SN’s behavior or configuration may be controlled by SN itself, which may be self-controlled and UE requested SN.

Step B: The SN may receive at least one of: authorization information or priority in-formation from the BS via L5.

Step C: The SN CU may transmit or broadcast a reference signal (e.g., sidelink syn-chronization signal block (SSB) , sidelink channel status information (CSI) –reference signal (RS) ) to the UE via L7. After detecting the reference signal, the UE may maintain synchronization with the SN CU (e.g., via a random access channel (RACH) procedure) .

Step D: The SN CU may transmit SN’s forwarding resource information to the UE via L7. The forwarding resource information may implicitly mean that the SN CU authorizes the UE to send forwarding request or assistant information to SN. The SN’s forwarding resource infor-mation can be a common signal (e.g., group common signal or cell-specific signal) . The forward-ing resource information can be common for a plurality of UEs. In some embodiments, the SN’s forwarding resource information can be a UE specific signal. The forwarding resource information can be dedicated for a UE.

Step E: The UE may transmit at least one of forwarding request information, assistant information, or priority information to the SN (e.g., forwarding request is transmitted before Step D, or assistant information is transmitted after UE receives the SN’s forwarding resource infor-mation) . In some implementations, assistant information can be used to select one or more of forwarding resources from the forwarding resource information received from the SN. In this step, the forwarding request can be at least one of the following types.

● The forwarding request can be to request the SN for forwarding until the UE sends for-warding complete information.

● The forwarding request can be to request the SN to provide available forwarding resource;

● The forwarding request can be to request the SN for forwarding within dedicated forward-ing resource, the details of forwarding resource can refer to following link details.

● The forwarding request can be to request the SN for per event forwarding. For example, the SN can be requested to perform forwarding during one dynamic grant scheduling for a UE.

Step F: The SN CU can determine whether to perform forwarding according to the forwarding request (e.g., after the SN CU receives the forwarding request) . When multiple UEs transmit forwarding request to the SN, the SN CU can determine whether to perform forwarding for which UE according to the forwarding request and the priority information among UEs.

Step G: The SN CU may transmit forwarding feedback information to the UE to inform the UE whether the SN can perform the forwarding.

Step H: The UE may transmit forwarding complete information to inform the SN that the forwarding has been finished.

The steps within this implementation example are not bound by a strict sequential order. In other words, the occurrence of one step, such as Step A, does not inherently precede another, such as Step B. The design allows for flexibility in the sequence of steps to accommodate different operational requirements. Moreover, it should be noted that certain steps may manifest in multiple instances within the process. For instance, Step E may manifest as a forwarding request or as assistant information interchangeably. This flexibility ensures that the disclosed process can adapt to a wide range of scenarios and operational needs.

Some examples of combinations of the above steps between the SN and the UE:

Example 1: In some implementations, the UE may transmit forwarding request infor-mation to the SN to require available forwarding resource of the SN. After the SN receives the forwarding request information, the SN may transmit forwarding resource information which may include one or more of forwarding resources to the UE. Then the UE may transmit assistant in-formation which may include selection or confirmation of the one or more of forwarding resources. The SN may transmit forwarding feedback information to the UE.

Regarding the timeline, the application time (e.g., the time when the forwarding re-source is applied) of the forwarding resource can be a reference slot determined by the reception slot when the UE receives the forwarding feedback information. The reference slot can be defined as at least one of: a reception slot; the first slot that is after a reception slot; or a slot that is offset by a number of slots provided by a slot offset from a reception slot. The slot offset can be based on at least one of SN’s capability, UE’s capability, indication from SN, indication from BS, indi-cation from UE, or a predefined value (e.g., 1 slot, 2 slots, 1 ms, 2 symbols, 7 symbols) . The forwarding operation may start according to the reference slot and the time domain resource indi-cated in the forwarding resource.

As an example of timeline, the UE may receive forwarding feedback information in slot n, a reference slot is defined as a slot n+k1 which is offset by a number of slots provided by a first slot offset k1 from slot n. Assuming that in forwarding resource, there can be time domain resource parameters including a second slot offset k2, and a symbol offset k0, the forwarding op-eration will start from symbol k0 of slot n+k1+k2. In some implementations, when k2 is config-ured as 0, or k2 is not included in the forwarding resource, the forwarding operation can start in slot n+k1. In some implementations, when k1 is predefined as 1, and k2 is configured as 0, or k2 is not included in the forwarding resource, the forwarding operation can start in slot n+1. In some implementations, when k1, k2 are configured or defined as 0, the forwarding operation can start in slot n. The subcarrier spacing for determining n, k1 follows the SCS of the signal that contains forwarding feedback information. The subcarrier spacing for determining k2, k0 follows the SCS indicated in the forwarding resource. The procedure and timeline can be shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Example 2: In some implementations, the UE may transmit forwarding request infor-mation to the SN to require available forwarding resource of the SN. After the SN receives the forwarding request information, the SN may transmit forwarding resource information which in-cludes one or more of forwarding resources to UE. The UE may transmit assistant information which includes selection or confirmation of the one or more of forwarding resources.

Regarding the timeline, the application time (e.g., the time when the forwarding re-source is applied) of the forwarding resource can be a reference slot determined by the reception slot when the SN receives the assistant information. The reference slot can be defined as at least one of: a reception slot; the first slot that is after a reception slot; or a slot that is offset by a number of slots provided by a slot offset from a reception slot. The slot offset can be based on at least one of SN’s capability, UE’s capability, indication from SN, indication from the BS, indication from UE, or a predefined value (e.g., 1 slot, 2 slots, 1 ms, 2 symbols, 7 symbols) . The forwarding operation may start according to the reference slot and the time domain resource indicated in the forwarding resource. The timeline example can refer to the timeline definition and figure of Ex-ample 1, except that the reception slot in Example 2 is based on the reception of assistant infor-mation by SN instead of reception of forwarding feedback information by UE. The procedure can be shown in FIG. 8.

Example 3: In some implementations, the SN may transmit forwarding resource infor-mation which includes one or more of forwarding resources to the UE, e.g., this can be a broadcast signal for a group of UEs, which can be regarded as a full set of available forwarding resources. The UE may transmit assistant information which includes selection or confirmation of the one or more of forwarding resources. The SN may transmit forwarding feedback information to UE after receiving the assistant information. The timeline of this example can be the same as Example 1. The procedure can be shown in FIG. 9.

Example 4: In some implementations, the SN may transmit forwarding resource infor-mation which includes one or more of forwarding resources to the UE, e.g., this can be a broadcast signal for a group of UEs, which can be regarded as a full set of available forwarding resources. Then the UE may transmit assistant information which includes selection or confirmation of the one or more of forwarding resources. The timeline of this example can be the same as Example 2. The procedure can be shown in FIG. 10.

Example 5: In some implementations, the UE may transmit forwarding request infor-mation to request the SN to forward within indicated forwarding resource. After the SN receives the forwarding request information, the SN may transmit forwarding feedback information to the UE, which may mean that the SN confirms or rejects UE’s request. The timeline of this example can be the same as Example 1. The procedure can be shown in FIG. 11.

Example 6: In some implementations, the UE may transmit forwarding request infor-mation to request the SN to forward within indicated forwarding resource. After the SN receives the forwarding request information, the SN may perform forwarding according to the forwarding request information without providing feedback to the UE.

Regarding the timeline, the application time (e.g., the time when the forwarding re-source is applied) of the forwarding resource can be a reference slot determined by the reception slot when the SN receives the forwarding request information. The reference slot can be defined as at least one of: a reception slot; the first slot that is after a reception slot; or a slot that is offset by a number of slots provided by a slot offset from a reception slot. The slot offset can be based on at least one of: SN’s capability, UE’s capability, indication from SN, indication from BS, indi-cation from UE, or a predefined value (e.g., 1 slot, 2 slots, 1 ms, 2 symbols, 7 symbols) . The forwarding operation starts according to the reference slot and the time domain resource indicated in the forwarding resource. The timeline example can refer to the timeline definition and figure of Example 1, except that the reception slot in Example 2 is based on the reception of forwarding request information by the SN instead of reception of forwarding feedback information by the UE. The procedure can be shown in FIG. 12.

Example 7: In some implementations, the UE may transmit forwarding request infor-mation to request the SN to forward, e.g., the forwarding request information does not include a time domain resource. After the SN receives the forwarding request information, the SN may transmit forwarding feedback information to the UE, which may mean that SN confirms or rejects UE’s request. Assuming the forwarding feedback information is to confirm UE’s request, after UE finishes the data transmission based on SN’s forwarding, the UE may transmit a forwarding complete information to inform SN that the forwarding can be terminated.

Regarding the timeline, since there is no indicated forwarding resource, the application time (e.g., the time when the forwarding operation starts) of the forwarding operation can be a reference slot determined by the reception slot when the UE receives the forwarding feedback information. The reference slot can be defined as at least one of: a reception slot; the first slot that is after a reception slot; or a slot that is offset by a number of slots provided by a slot offset from a reception slot. The ending time (e.g., the time when the forwarding operation ends) of the for-warding operation can be a reference slot determined by the reception slot when SN received or UE transmits the forwarding complete information. The reference slot can be defined as at least one of a reception slot; the first slot that is after a reception slot; or a slot that is offset by a number of slots provided by a slot offset from a reception slot.

As an example of timeline, the UE may receive forwarding feedback information in slot n1, the forwarding operation starts in a reference slot, and the reference slot is defined as a slot n1+k1 which is offset by a number of slots provided by a first slot offset k1 from slot n1. The UE may transmit forwarding complete information or SN receives forwarding complete infor-mation in slot n2, the forwarding operation ends in slot n2+k2 which is offset by a number of slots provided by a second slot offset k2 from slot n2. The slot offset k1, k2 can be based on at least one of: SN’s capability, UE’s capability, indication from SN, indication from BS, indication from UE, or a predefined value (e.g. 1 slot, 2 slots, 1 ms, 2 symbols, 7 symbols) . In some implementa-tions, k1 can be predefined as 1, the forwarding operation can start in slot n1+1. In some imple-mentations, k1 can predefined as 0, the forwarding operation can start in slot n1. In some imple-mentations, k2 can predefined as 1, the forwarding operation can end in slot n2+1. The procedure and timeline can be shown in FIGS. 13 and 14.

Example 8: In some implementations, the UE may transmit forwarding request infor-mation to request the SN to forward, e.g., the forwarding request information does not include a time domain resource. After the SN receives the forwarding request information, the SN may perform forwarding according to the forwarding request information without providing feedback to the UE. After the UE finishes the data transmission based on SN’s forwarding, the UE may transmit a forwarding complete information to inform the SN that the forwarding can be terminated.

Regarding the timeline, since there is no indicated forwarding resource, the application time (e.g., the time when the forwarding operation starts) of the forwarding operation can be a reference slot determined by the reception slot when the SN received or the UE transmits the for-warding request information. The reference slot can be defined as at least one of: a reception slot; the first slot that is after a reception slot; or a slot that is offset by a number of slots provided by a slot offset from a reception slot. The ending time (e.g., the time when the forwarding operation ends) of the forwarding operation can be a reference slot determined by the reception slot when SN received or UE transmits the forwarding complete information. The reference slot can be defined as at least one of: a reception slot; the first slot that is after a reception slot; or a slot that is offset by a number of slots provided by a slot offset from a reception slot.

As an example of timeline, the SN may receive or the UE may transmit forwarding request information in slot n1. The forwarding operation may start in a reference slot, and the reference slot can be defined as a slot n1+k1 which is offset by a number of slots provided by a first slot offset k1 from slot n1. The UE may transmit forwarding complete information or the SN may receive forwarding complete information in slot n2. The forwarding operation may end in slot n2+k2 which is offset by a number of slots provided by a second slot offset k2 from slot n2. The slot offset k1, k2 can be based on at least one of SN’s capability, UE’s capability, indication from SN, indication from BS, indication from UE, or a predefined value (e.g., 1 slot, 2 slots, 1 ms, 2 symbols, 7 symbols) . In some implementations, k1 can be predefined as 1, the forwarding op-eration can start in slot n1+1. In some implementations, k1 can be predefined as 0, the forwarding operation can start in slot n1. In some implementations, k2 can be predefined as 1, the forwarding operation can end in slot n2+1. The procedure and timeline can be shown in FIGS. 15 and 16.

Example 9: In some implementations, the UE may transmit forwarding request infor-mation to the SN to require available forwarding resource of the SN. After the SN receives the forwarding request information, the SN may transmit forwarding resource information which in-cludes one or more of forwarding resources to the UE.

Regarding the timeline, the application time (e.g., the time when the forwarding re-source is applied) of the forwarding resource can be a reference slot determined by the reception slot when the UE receives the forwarding resource information. The reference slot can be defined as at least one of: a reception slot; the first slot that is after a reception slot; or a slot that is offset by a number of slots provided by a slot offset from a reception slot. The slot offset can be based on at least one of SN’s capability, UE’s capability, indication from SN, indication from BS, indi-cation from UE, or a predefined value (e.g., 1 slot, 2 slots, 1 ms, 2 symbols, 7 symbols) . The forwarding operation may start according to the reference slot and the time domain resource indi-cated in the forwarding resource. The timeline example can refer to the timeline definition and figure of Example 1, except that the reception slot in Example 2 is based on the reception of for-warding resource information by UE instead of reception of forwarding feedback information by the UE. The procedure can be shown in FIG. 17.

Example 10: In some implementations, the SN may transmit forwarding resource in-formation which includes one or more of forwarding resources to the UE. The forwarding resource can be UE specific or common to a group of UEs. When the UE receives the forwarding resource information, the UE can perform data transmission assuming the SN is activated within the for-warding resource. The timeline is the same as Example 9. The procedure can be shown in FIG. 18.

The following is detailed information transmitted in each links.

Link L5

The information transmitted in L5 may comprise at least one (e.g., any one or more) of following:

● Control information.

○ Category A -In this category, the information can be specified in network con-trolled repeater from the BS to the SN CU via L5.

■ Beam information.

■ ON-OFF information.

■ Time division duplex (TDD) information.

○ Category B -In this category, the information, delivered from the BS to the SN CU via L5, can be for network controlled repeater.

■ Power control information.

■ Timing information.

● Priority information. For example, the priority among different UEs (e.g., in a UE ID list) .

● Authorization information (e.g., may authorize the SN to receive UE’s request or control information) , including at least one of:

○ A user equipment (UE) identity (ID) ;

○ A list of at least one UE ID (e.g., the UEs in the list can be authorized to request forwarding or assist forwarding) ; or

○ Parameters corresponding to dedicated sequence or reference signals (e.g., a pre-amble; a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) ; a sounding reference signal (SRS) ; a Zadoff Chu (ZC) sequence; a Pseudo-Noise (PN) sequence; or a low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) sequence) .

For example, the sequence can be in a preamble or form a preamble. The parameters can be at least one of: a preamble index, a preamble root index, or a time domain resource of RACH occasion. The UE can send the preamble to the SN and when SN receives the dedicated preamble corresponding to the parameters, the SN can identify that the UE has been authorized to request forwarding or assist forwarding.

For example, the reference signal can be DMRS, the parameters can be at least one of cyclic shift, sequence initialization parameter c_init, the OFDM symbol number within the slot, the slot number within a frame, scrambling ID, UE can send the DMRS to the SN. When SN receives the dedicated DMRS corresponding to the parameters, the SN can identify that the UE has been authorized to request forwarding or assist forwarding.

The information in L5 may be carried in at least one of: a DCI signaling in a PDCCH, a MAC CE signaling in a PDSCH; a RRC message in a PDSCH; or system information in a PDSCH or a PDCCH.

Link L6

The information transmitted in L6 may comprise at least one of following.

● Authorization confirmation (e.g., to inform the BS that the SN CU has received the author-ization information, e.g., HARQ ACK/NACK) .

● SN’s capability information (e.g., the beam characteristic information) .

● Feedback information for control information (e.g., HARQ ACK/NACK) .

The information in L6 may be carried in at least one of: UCI in a PUCCH or a PUSCH; a MAC CE signaling in a PUSCH; a RRC message in a PUSCH; or a physical random access channel (PRACH) .

Link L7

The information transmitted in L7 may comprise at least one of following.

● SN’s capability information (e.g., the beam characteristic information) , including at least one of: beam characteristic information, number of supported beams, a beam index, a beam width, a beam direction, a beam switching time, a ON-OFF switching time, a frequency domain resource on which the SN performs forwarding.

● Forwarding resource information. The forwarding resource information may be at least one of: a forwarding resource list, a plurality of forwarding resources, a forwarding re-source pattern, or a forwarding resource.

○ The forwarding resource may include at least one of time domain resource T, fre-quency domain resource F, beam information B, power control information P, TDD UL/DL information TD, link information L.

■ The time domain resource mentioned in this disclosure uses the parameters including at least one of: a start time, a pattern, a start and length indicator value (SLIV) , a time offset, a slot offset, a symbol offset, a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) index, a duty cycle, a duration (in symbols or in slots) , a periodicity, reference signal type, reference signal resource index, and/or a reference Subcarrier spacing (SCS) .

● For example, the time domain resource can be a periodic indication including at least one of: a periodicity, a slot offset, a symbol offset, a duration, or a SCS. In some implementations, periodicity and slot offset can combined in one parameter. The slot offset can be based on the start of the periodicity.

● For example, the time domain resource can be an aperiodic indica-tion including at least one of: a slot offset, a symbol offset, a dura-tion, or a SCS. The slot offset can be based on a reference slot.

■ The frequency domain resource mentioned in this disclosure uses the pa-rameters including at least one of a carrier index, a band index, a sub-band index, a BWP index, a frequency range index, a start RB index, an RB num-ber, an RE number, a frequency offset, and/or a reference point.

○ For example, in one forwarding resource {T1} , it may indicate that the UE can request SN to perform forwarding within the time domain resource T1. This ex-ample can be shown in FIG. 19.

○ For example, in one forwarding resource {T1, F1} , it may indicate that the UE can request SN to perform forwarding within the time domain resource T1 and fre-quency domain resource F1. This example can be shown in FIG. 20.

○ For example, in one forwarding resource {T1, F1, B1} , it may indicate that the UE can request SN to perform forwarding within the time and frequency domain re-source T1 and F1 using the beam B1. This example can be shown in FIG. 21.

○ For example, in one forwarding resource {T1, F1, B1, P1} , it may indicate that the UE can request SN to perform forwarding within the time and frequency domain resource T1 and F1 using the beam B1, the power P1. This example can be shown in FIG. 22.

● Forwarding feedback information (e.g., confirm UE’s request, or refuse UE’s request, or ACK/NACK information) .

● Reference signal (e.g., sidelink SSB, sidelink CSI-RS) .

The information in L7 may be carried in at least one of: sidelink control information (SCI) transmitted via a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) ; sidelink data transmitted via a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) ; a broadcast signal transmitted via a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) ; a feedback signal transmitted via a physical sidelink feedback chan-nel (PSFCH) ; system information (e.g., a system information block (SIB) ) ; a radio resource control (RRC) signaling in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ; a medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling in the PDSCH; or a downlink control information (DCI) signaling in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) .

Link L8

The information transmitted in L8 may comprise at least one of following.

● Forwarding request information (e.g., request the SN to forward UE’s data) . The forward-ing request information can include at least one of:

○ A 1-bit indication: “1” may indicate to request forwarding. “0” may indicate to stop the requested forwarding. This can also refer to activation/deactivation field in a MAC CE signaling.

○ A payload size: The payload size can also be a buffer size, transport block size.

○ A preamble: The preamble can be a contention based random access (CBRA) or contention free random access (CFRA) . The preamble can be in dedicated RACH occasion (RO) or arbitrary RO. The preamble may be triggered by a new event dedicated for requesting the SN to forward.

○ A sounding reference signal (SRS) : The SRS can have a dedicated port index or an arbitrary port index.

○ A dedicated sequence: For example, it can be at least one of a Zadoff Chu (ZC) sequence, a Pseudo-Noise (PN) sequence, a low Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) sequence, or a Wake Up Signal (WUS) sequence.

○ A user equipment (UE) identity (ID) : The UE may transmit UE ID to the SN to request forwarding. The SN can check whether the UE ID is allowed to request forwarding according to the authorization information received from the BS.

○ A requested time domain resource (e.g., request SN to forward within the indicated time domain resource) .

○ A requested frequency domain resource (e.g., request SN to forward within the in-dicated frequency domain resource) .

● Assistant information (e.g., assist the SN to determine the forwarding resource that the SN would use to forward UE’s data) . The assistant information may comprise an indication of at least one of:

○ One or more of time domain resources;

○ One or more of time domain resource indexes;

○ One or more of frequency domain resources;

○ One or more of frequency domain resource indexes;

○ One or more of forwarding resources; or

○ One or more of forwarding resource indexes.

● Priority information (e.g., to indicate the priority of the forwarding request) . In some im-plementations, the priority information is defined as priority levels, e.g., level 1, 2, 3. For example, each UE may be provided with different priority levels, when multiple UEs send request to the SN, the SN can determine to confirm which UE’s request or assistant infor-mation according to the highest priority level. In some implementations, the priority in-formation can be defined as 1 bit priority flag for a UE. For example, UE with priority flag has higher priority than UE without priority flag. In another example, a UE with priority flag setting as “1” has higher priority than UE with priority flag setting as “0” . The priority can be determined by at least one of BS’s priority information, the UE’s capability, the UE’s type, and/or the transmitted signal/channel.

● Forwarding complete information (e.g., to inform SN that the UE’s forwarding is com-plete) . In some implementations, the forwarding request information and complete infor-mation can be carried in the same MAC CE signaling (e.g., using an activation/deactivation (A/D) field) . When this field is activation, it may indicate that the UE requests the SN for forwarding. When the field is deactivation, it may indicate that the UE informs SN to stop forwarding.

The information in L8 may be carried in at least one of: sidelink control information (SCI) transmitted via a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) ; sidelink data or a medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling transmitted via a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) ; uplink control information (UCI) in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) ; a medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) ; a radio resource control (RRC) signaling in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) ; an indication of a preamble; or an indication of a sounding reference signal (SRS) . For example, UCI can include the time domain resource index. The list of time domain resource can be pre-defined, or pre-configured in a RRC signaling (e.g., sending from SN to UE, a list in L7) . For example, UCI can include the frequency domain resource index. The list of frequency domain resource can be pre-defined, or pre-configured in a RRC signaling. For example, UCI can include the forwarding resource index. The list of forwarding resource can be pre-defined, or pre-config-ured in a RRC signaling.

In some embodiments, the payload in PUSCH can include the requested time domain resource, using the parameters including at least one of a start time, a pattern, a start and length indicator value (SLIV) , a time offset, a slot offset, a symbol offset, a time domain resource alloca-tion (TDRA) index, a duty cycle, a duration (in symbols or in slots) , a periodicity, reference signal type, reference signal resource index, and/or a reference SCS. For example, the payload in PUSCH can include the requested frequency domain resource, using the parameters including at least one of a carrier index, a band index, a sub-band index, a BWP index, a frequency range index, a start RB index, an RB number, an RE number, a frequency offset and/or a reference point.

Link L9

The information transmitted in L9 may comprise at least one of the following.

● Authorization information, comprising at least one of following.

○ A SN ID. The BS may authorize the UE to send control information to the specific SN.

○ A SN ID list. The UE can be authorized to send control information to the SNs in the list.

○ Parameters corresponding to dedicated sequence or reference signals (e.g., pream-ble, DMRS, SRS, ZC sequence, PN sequence, low PAPR sequence) .

■ For example, the sequence can be preamble. The parameters can be at least one of: a preamble index, a preamble root index, or a time domain resource of RACH occasion. The UE can send the preamble to the SN. When the SN receives the dedicated preamble corresponding to the parameters, the SN can identify that the UE has been authorized to control forwarding.

■ For example, the reference signal can be DMRS. The parameters can be at least one of: cyclic shift, sequence initialization parameter c_init, the OFDM symbol number within the slot, the slot number within a frame, or scrambling ID. The UE can send the DMRS to the SN. When the SN re-ceives the dedicated DMRS corresponding to the parameters, the SN can identify that the UE has been authorized to control forwarding.

● Frequency configuration information (e.g., frequency translation information) , this is to let UE know which frequency resource (or band) can be used for L1～L4, L7/L8.

● Priority information, including at least one of following.

○ The priority of target UE, to determine the priority of the target UE among the UEs that may send the forwarding request.

The information in L9 may be carried in at least one of: a DCI signaling in a PDCCH; a MAC CE signaling in a PDSCH; a RRC message in a PDSCH; or system information in a PDSCH or PDCCH.

Link L10

The information transmitted in L10 may comprise at least one of following.

● Authorization request, comprising at least one of following.

○ Request information (e.g., 1 bit, “1” may indicate to request for authorization to send control information or forwarding request to any SN) .

○ A SN ID. The UE may request for authorization to send control information or forwarding request to the specific SN.

○ A SN ID list. The UE may request for authorization to send control information or forwarding request to the SNs in the list.

● Feedback information (e.g. HARQ ACK/NACK) .

The information in L10 may be carried in at least one of: UCI in a PUCCH or PUSCH; a MAC CE signaling in a PUSCH; a RRC message in a PUSCH; or a PRACH.

It should be understood that one or more features from the above implementation ex-amples are not exclusive to the specific implementation examples, but can be combined in any manner (e.g., in any priority and/or order, concurrently or otherwise) .

FIG. 23 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 2300 for user equipment (UE) requested forwarding for network node. The method 2300 may be implemented using any one or more of the components and devices detailed herein in conjunction with FIGS. 1 to 22. In overview, the method 2300 may be performed by a network node (e.g., a smart node (SN) ) , in some embodiments. Additional, fewer, or different operations may be performed in the method 2300 depending on the embodiment. At least one aspect of the operations is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or a computer-readable medium.

A network node (e.g., a smart node (SN) ) that supports controllable forwarding of wire-less signals may receive first information from a wireless communication device (e.g., a user equipment (UE) ) . The network node may determine a forwarding behavior of the network node according to the first information. The first information may comprise at least one of: forwarding request information; assistant information; priority information; or forwarding complete infor-mation. The forwarding request information may comprise at least one of: a forwarding request to request the network node to perform forwarding until the at least one wireless communication device sends forwarding complete information; a forwarding request to request the network node to provide available forwarding resource; a forwarding request to request the network node to perform forwarding within a dedicated forwarding resource; or a forwarding request to request the network node to perform forwarding in connection with an event. The forwarding request infor-mation may comprise an indication of at least one of: a 1-bit indication; a payload size; a preamble; a sounding reference signal (SRS) ; a Zadoff Chu (ZC) sequence; a Pseudo-Noise (PN) sequence; a user equipment (UE) identity (ID) ; a requested time domain resource; or a requested frequency domain resource. The assistant information may comprise an indication of at least one of: one or more of time domain resources; one or more of time domain resource indexes; one or more of frequency domain resources; one or more of frequency domain resource indexes; one or more of forwarding resources; or one or more of forwarding resource indexes.

In some embodiments, the network node may transmit third information to the wireless communication device (e.g., via L7) . The third information may comprise at least one of: a refer- ence signal; capability information of the network node; forwarding resource information; or for-warding feedback information. The forwarding feedback information may indicate to the wireless communication device whether or when to perform a forwarding action. The wireless communi-cation device may maintain synchronization with the network node after detecting the reference signal. The forwarding resource information can be indicative that the network node authorizes the wireless communication device to send the forwarding request to the network node. In some embodiments, the forwarding resource information can be communicated in at least one of: a com-mon signal or a user equipment (UE) specific signal.

While various embodiments of the present solution have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an example architectural or configuration, which are provided to enable persons of ordinary skill in the art to understand example features and functions of the present solution. Such persons would understand, however, that the solution is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Additionally, as would be under- stood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of one embodiment can be com-bined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described illustrative embodiments.

It is also understood that any reference to an element herein using a designation such as "first, " "second, " and so forth does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations can be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to first and second elements does not mean that only two elements can be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

Additionally, a person having ordinary skill in the art would understand that infor-mation and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and tech-niques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits and symbols, for example, which may be referenced in the above description can be represented by voltages, cur-rents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any com-bination thereof.

A person of ordinary skill in the art would further appreciate that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, means, circuits, methods and functions described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., a digital implementation, an analog implementation, or a combination of the two) , firmware, var-ious forms of program or design code incorporating instructions (which can be referred to herein, for convenience, as "software" or a "software module) , or any combination of these techniques. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware or software, or a combination of these techniques, depends upon the particular application and design con-straints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans can implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions do not cause a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that various illus-trative logical blocks, modules, devices, components and circuits described herein can be imple-mented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC) that can include a general purpose pro-cessor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logical blocks, modules, and circuits can further include antennas and/or transceivers to com-municate with various components within the network or within the device. A general purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of micropro-cessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suitable con-figuration to perform the functions described herein.

If implemented in software, the functions can be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable me-dia includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that can be enabled to transfer a computer program or code from one place to another. A storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

In this document, the term "module" as used herein, refers to software, firmware, hard-ware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. Additionally, for purpose of discussion, the various modules are described as discrete mod-ules; however, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, two or more modules may be combined to form a single module that performs the associated functions according embodi-ments of the present solution.

Additionally, memory or other storage, as well as communication components, may be employed in embodiments of the present solution. It will be appreciated that, for clarity purposes, the above description has described embodiments of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without detracting from the present solution. For example, functionality illustrated to be performed by separate processing logic elements, or controllers, may be performed by the same processing logic element, or controller. Hence, references to specific functional units are only references to a suitable means for providing the described functionality, rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not in-tended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as recited in the claims below.

Claims

A method comprising:

receiving, by a network node that supports controllable forwarding of wireless signals, from a wireless communication device, first information; and

determining, by the network node according to the first information , a forwarding behavior of the network node.
The method of claim 1, wherein the first information comprises at least one of:

forwarding request information;

assistant information;

priority information; or

forwarding complete information.
The method of claim 2, wherein the forwarding request information comprises at least one of:

a forwarding request to request the network node to perform forwarding until the at least one wireless communication device sends forwarding complete information;

a forwarding request to request the network node to provide available forwarding resource;

a forwarding request to request the network node to perform forwarding within a dedicated forwarding resource; or

a forwarding request to request the network node to perform forwarding in connection with an event.
The method of claim 2, wherein the forwarding request information comprises an indica-tion of at least one of:

a 1-bit indication;

a payload size;

a preamble;

a sounding reference signal (SRS) ;

a Zadoff Chu (ZC) sequence;

a Pseudo-Noise (PN) sequence;

a user equipment (UE) identity (ID) ;

one or more of requested time domain resources;

one or more of requested frequency domain resource; or

one or more of requested forwarding resources.
The method of claim 2, wherein the assistant information comprises an indication of at least one of:

one or more of time domain resources;

one or more of time domain resource indexes;

one or more of frequency domain resources;

one or more of frequency domain resource indexes;

one or more of forwarding resources; or

one or more of forwarding resource indexes.
The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving, by the network node from a wireless communication node, second information comprising at least one of:

control information;

priority information; or

first authorization information.
The method of claim 6, wherein the first authorization information comprises at least one of:

a user equipment (UE) identity (ID) ,

a list of at least one UE ID; or

at least one parameter corresponding to at least one dedicated sequence or at least one reference signal.
The method of claim 1, comprising:

transmitting, by the network node to the wireless communication device, third information comprising at least one of:

a reference signal;

capability information of the network node;

forwarding resource information; or

forwarding feedback information;

wherein the forwarding feedback information indicates to the wireless communication de-vice whether or when to perform a forwarding action.
The method of claim 8, wherein the wireless communication device maintains synchroni-zation with the network node after detecting the reference signal.
The method of claim 8, wherein the forwarding resource information is indicative that the network node authorizes the wireless communication device to send the forwarding request to the network node.
The method of claim 4, 5 or 8, wherein the forwarding resource information comprises an indication of at least one of: a forwarding resource list, a plurality of forwarding resources, a for-warding resource pattern, or a forwarding resource; and wherein the forwarding resource com-prises at least one of: a time domain resource, a frequency domain resource, beam information, power control information, time division duplex (TDD) uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) information, or link information.
The method of claim 8, wherein the third information is communicated via at least one of:

sidelink control information (SCI) transmitted via a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) ;

sidelink data transmitted via a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) ;

a broadcast signal transmitted via a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) ;

a feedback signal transmitted via a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) ;

system information;

a radio resource control (RRC) signaling in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ;

a medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling in the PDSCH; or

a downlink control information (DCI) signaling in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) .
The method of claim 2, wherein the forwarding request information is carried in a medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling with an activation or a deactivation field set-ting as activation, forwarding complete information is carried in the MAC CE signaling with an activation or a deactivation field setting as deactivation.
The method of claim 1, wherein the first information comprises at least one of:

sidelink control information (SCI) transmitted via a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) ;

sidelink data or a medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling transmitted via a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) ;

uplink control information (UCI) in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) ;

a medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) ;

a radio resource control (RRC) signaling in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) ;

an indication of a preamble; or

an indication of a sounding reference signal (SRS) .
The method of claim 1, wherein a wireless communication node transmits fourth infor-mation to the wireless communication device, wherein the fourth information comprises at least one of:

second authorization information;

frequency configuration information; or

priority information.
The method of claim 15, wherein the second authorization information comprises an indi-cation of at least one of:

at least one network node identity (ID) ,

a list of at least one network node ID; or

at least one parameter corresponding to at least one dedicated sequence or at least one reference signal.
The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device transmits fifth infor-mation to a wireless communication node comprising an indication of at least one of:

an authorization request; or

feedback information,

wherein the authorization request comprises an indication of at least one of:

request information;

at least one network node identity (ID) ; or

a list of at least one network node ID.
The method of claim 4, 5 or 8, wherein an application time of forwarding resource is a reference slot comprising at least one of:

the reference slot is a reception slot;

the reference slot is the first slot that is after a reception slot; or

the reference slot is a slot that is offset by a number of slots provided by a slot offset from a reception slot;

wherein the reception slot is defined as at least one of:

a slot when the network node receives forwarding request information;

a slot when the network node receives assistant information;

a slot when the wireless communication device receives forwarding resource infor-mation; or

a slot when the wireless communication device receives forwarding feedback in-formation,

wherein the slot offset is determined by at least one of:

a capability of the wireless communication device;

a capability of the network node;

an indication from the wireless communication node;

an indication from the network node;

an indication from the wireless communication device; or

a predefined value.
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-18.
An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor configured to implement the method of any one of claims 1-18.